Quarry incident raises alarm for work safety

When rescue workers retrieved the last body from a collapsed quarry in Yen Lam District, Thanh Hoa Province last Saturday night, it raised the total number of work-related deaths in the central province to 20 since the beginning of 2016. — Photo thanhnien.com.vn

When rescue workers retrieved the last body from a collapsed quarry in Yen Lam District, Thanh Hoa Province last Saturday night, it raised the total number of work-related deaths in the central province to 20 since the beginning of 2016. The quarry collapse itself led to eight fatalities.

The year could not have started worse for workers in the province. On the first day of 2016, eight workers died from carbon monoxide poisoning in a lime kiln accident. Among the victims was a five-month pregnant woman.

Eight days later, another four workers lost their lives after a platform collapsed on them at a construction site in Trung Son District.

The quarry collapse was quickly blamed on heavy rain, not a first in a country where such accidents are often blamed on the weather.

However, according to a a report by the Labour newspaper, human factors played a large part in both the platform and quarry incidents.

Sub-standard maintenance was the main cause of the platform collapse while numerous labour regulation and work safety violations may have contributed to the tragic end the eight workers met in the quarry collapse.

Truong Van Long, a company driver for the quarry who escaped death that day because his car had broken down, said he had worked for more than a year already without a contract. Long and the deceased were considered temporary workers and had therefore never signed work contracts or received safety training. They were poor farmers who lived in isolated mountainous areas who came to the quarry looking for work in-between harvests. They never received any safety instructions or equipment, not even a safety helmet.

Thanh Hoa Province possesses one of the country's largest deposits of natural stone. There are numerous quarries operating in most of the province's districts, but safety supervision has been largely overlooked for years.

Every time an accident occurred it is almost impossible to get straight answers from relevant agencies. Most questions are passed around and receive vague answers, according to Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper.

Responsibility is usually placed with the companies who overlook safety regulations and the harsh weather conditions, the paper has said recently.

This kind of response raises question marks over the effectiveness of the agencies that were supposedly charged with the task of ensuring workers' safety. Provincial and local authorities were always quick to provide compensation to the victims' families but perhaps the better approach is to take concrete measures to improve quarry safety and prevent similar accidents

Ha Noi gets 500 new water hydrants

Another five hundred water hydrants for use by fire engines in public areas have been installed in the capital city, the city's Construction Department announced.

A representative of the department's urban infrastructure maintenance committee said that parks, public places and roadsides were selected to place water hydrants from where fire engines could draw water in case of emergencies.

The installation aimed to supplement the water sources for fire-fighting activities in the city.

According to the committee, putting these hydrant points to use during the dry weather at the year-end would help to resolve the problems of water-supply shortage at the source in densely-populated areas, commercial centres and markets.

Photo contest and exhibition features rural Tet markets

The central city's photography club launched a photo contest and exhibition named Spring for its 70 members at the Furama Resort Da Nang yesterday.

The club said the contest will feature participants' photos on spring and rural markets during Tet (Lunar New Year), and the best photos will be announced and displayed next Thursday.

The best photos will receive total cash prizes totaling VND21 million (US$900).

The organising committee said the best 20 photos will be displayed at the resort during Tet.

Also, to celebrate the lunar New Year, the resort will host its annual three-day Tet village market on February 2-4 at the swimming pool area.

The market aims to provide a rendezvous space for tourists to explore a traditional Vietnamese Tet market.

Tourists can enjoy an ancient Tet atmosphere with cultural cuisine as well as a floating stage, music, games and performances while welcoming the Year of the Monkey.

Loc Troi applies sustainable standards to large-scale rice fields

Loc Troi Group has applied the Sustainable Rice Platform (SRP) standards to its new rice production model known as the large-scale field in the Mekong Delta after  it became the first Vietnamese enterprise to join such a platform.

At a conference on international standards for sustainable rice production in Vietnam in An Giang Province on Monday, Loc Troi Group said the SRP standards include 46 requirements measured by many different indicators, especially economic, social and environmental ones.

For the economic factor, productivity and cost must be ensured while the focus is on controlling the appropriate use of plant protection products in terms of the environmental factor. As for the social factor, the main criteria are food and health safety for workers.

The SRP standards also cover other factors including women’s rights and child labor.

For farmers, applying the SRP will bring them many benefits like effective farming practices, easier access to the supply chain and higher earnings. For processing operations, complying with the SRP will help manufacturers control product quality and promote sales.

In addition to 46 requirements, the SRP standards have eight criteria including those for rice field, nutrient, pest, water use, harvest and post-harvest management.

Huynh Van Thon, chairman of Loc Troi Group, told reporters on the sidelines of the conference that in the first half of 2016, the firm will implement the eight criteria and 46 requirements on 150 hectares out of its 91,000 hectares of large-scale rice field.

Such requirements will apply to 15,000 hectares and then 100,000 hectares in the coming years, Thon said.

SRP chairman James Lomax said the implementation of the SRP standards will not only help protect the environment and improve incomes for farmers but also create an opportunity for adding value to Vietnamese rice and do the branding for the staple food.

SRP was launched through a link between the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). Currently, there are 29 participants in the SRP and Loc Troi Group is the first in Vietnam.

Retailers, finance firms team up to boost demand

Some retailers have cooperated with finance companies to boost consumption and improve revenue by offering short-term consumer credit with a 0% interest rate for shoppers.

Speaking at an online conference on consumer lending in HCMC on January 26, Nguyen Huu Nghiep, deputy director of Sang Trong Co, a motorbike trader, said his company has cooperated with finance firms to speed up sales and recover capital. They offer a 0% interest rate for consumer loans, which is applicable to some products in a certain period.

Le Duc Thuan, director of Service Industry at FPT Retail, said the company has tied up with four finance firms to provide installment plans for clients. To apply a 0% rate, both sides negotiate to share interest.

Such installment plans are only applicable for a term of six months, which is acceptable for retailers and finance firms. At present, customers from finance firms account for around 30% of FPT Retail’s revenue, Thuan said.

Vuong Thuy Tien, a board member of Home Credit Vietnam, said it has launched a range of credit products at preferential rates thanks to its cooperation with producers and retailers.

Retailers and producers have been strengthening cooperation with finance companies. Earlier, finance firms would pay for retail stores if they set up a counter there, but now they can get support from retailers and producers to make low-interest loans available for consumers, Tien said.

According to financial expert Nguyen Tri Hieu, although finance firms and retailers offer credit, customers should compare prices at different stores before making a decision.

Buyers should also pay attention to loan repayment schedules. Though the 0% rate is applied during the loan term, borrowers would have to pay a heavy fine for payment delays, Hieu said.

Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the central bank’s HCMC branch, said the competitiveness of finance companies is far lower than that of banks, so they design distinctive products to attract customers. At present, banks apply lending rates of 11-13% a year to consumer loans, so finance firms offer credit at a 0% interest rate to woo consumers.

In Vietnam generally and HCMC particularly, consumer lending is holding growth potential, Minh said.

By end-2010, consumer loans had accounted for a mere 2.3% of total outstanding loans in HCMC, equivalent to VND16 trillion (US$718.6 million). However, the ratio had jumped to 6.8%, or VND90 trillion, at the end of last year.

According to Minh, bad debt in this market segment is not high despite rapid expansion. However, finance companies face high bad debt as their borrowers are mostly low- or middle-income people.

HCMC’s budget revenue from land use fees amounted to more than VND10.67 trillion (US$477.7 million) last year, up a staggering 34.56% from a year earlier, according to the municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

The department ascribed the strong increase in land use fee revenue to the city’s land price spike last year.

The department’s deputy director Nguyen Van Phuoc told a review meeting last week that land prices in the city were revised up by 1.9 times on average compared to 2014.

The city collected over VND2.48 trillion (US$110.8 million) in land and water surface rent in 2015, surging 72% year-on-year. Housing and non-agricultural land tax collections exceeded VND172 billion (US$7.68 million), down 3.77% over 2014, since non-agricultural land was still taxed in line with the list of land prices of 2012 in accordance with the tax on non-agricultural land.

The HCMC Real Estate Association (HoREA) has recently forwarded concerns of real estate firms, including over the high land use fee, to the Government. The fee has been seen as a burden for property firms though the association has many times petitioned the Government to solve this over the past ten years.

Phuoc of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment said in 2015 the department helped hold public auctions for six land lots with a total area of 1.7 hectares. These auctions raised more than VND1.57 trillion (US$70.4 million) for the city.

Besides, seven land lots totaling over 18 hectares were allocated to investors of build-transfer (BT) projects and districts to build schools and offices.

HCMC’s first metro line likely to connect to neighboring provinces

The first metro line of HCMC may connect to Bien Hoa City in Dong Nai Province and Binh Duong New City in Binh Duong Province.

The Ministry of Transport said Dong Nai Province’s proposal is that Metro Line No. 1 designed to run from downtown HCMC to Suoi Tien Park in District 9 should be lengthened by 4.7 kilometers to Vung Tau Roundabout in Bien Hoa City.

Dong Nai explained that it is located near HCMC’s eastern gateway with dense traffic and that it has 29 industrial zones so many factory workers shuttle between the province and the city.

According to HCMC’s master zoning plan for transport development until 2020 with a vision afterward approved by the Government in Decision No. 568/QD-TTg, the city will have eight metro lines, which will  connect to cities and towns such as Thu Dau Mot, Bien Hoa, and Tan An. There is a plan to extend the city’s first metro line to Sat Market in Bien Hoa City.

The province has much ready land for construction of urban railways going through Bien Hoa 2 Industrial Zone and stations.

Dong Nai said the extension of Metro Line No. 1 would help reduce private vehicles entering HCMC and ease congestion at the city’s eastern gateway.

Currently, Binh Duong Province also plans a metro section connecting Binh Duong New City and Metro Line No. 1 at Suoi Tien Park in HCMC’s District 9.

Metro Line No. 1 comprises underground and elevated tracks. The 17-kilometer overhead section from Ba Son Shipyard to Long Binh in District 9 is scheduled to be completed in the middle of 2017 and put into service in 2018. The whole metro line will come online in 2020.

HCM City taxman to screen firms suspected of tax evasion

The tax authorities of HCMC will focus on inspecting enterprises with signs of tax evasion and big revenues.

The authorities will keep a close watch on beer, wine and tobacco firms as well as enterprises earning big revenues in the petroleum, power, telecommunication and real estate sectors, according to the city government’s report on budget collections in 2015 and tasks for 2016.

More tax inspections are also planned for enterprises with huge special consumption tax payments in the sectors of franchising, advertising, aviation, banking, and milk processing and trading.

The taxman will carefully screen companies entitled to value-added tax refunds for exports and imports, tax cuts and exemptions; enterprises free from inspections for a long period; and businesses with losses and signs of transfer pricing.

HCMC will take measures to reduce tax arrears and limit new tax debts. The city’s target is that new tax arrears until December 31, 2016 will not exceed 5% of total budget collections this year.

HCMC is tasked with budget collections of VND298 trillion (US$13.27 billion) this year, rising by 9.53% against 2015. A leader of the city said this is a difficult job but it must be done.

Of the total, the city expects to collect VND177.6 trillion from domestic sources, VND18.2 trillion from crude oil, VND102.5 trillion from exports and imports, according to the report.

Besides, this year’s tax collections include VND2.15 trillion from lottery business and VND350 billion from the environmental protection fee on wastewater.

Patients worry Tet holiday will see blood shortage

The country may face a severe blood shortage over the Tet ((Lunar New Year) holidays, according to Nguyen Anh Tri, Director of the National Institute of Haematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT).

Last week, at the launch of the 8th "Red Sunday" – a blood drive running until January 28, Tri said the NIHBT's blood bank had about 6,000 units of blood available to treat emergencies in northern hospitals over the holiday.

This news has worried patients with blood diseases who require regular blood transfusion.

Tri said that thalassemia patients needed two to four units of blood on average each day.

Other groups of patients requiring regular blood transfusion are those with blood cancer, hemophilia or myelodysplastic syndrome - a type of cancer in which the bone marrow does not produce enough healthy blood cells.

The NIHBT received about 1,000 regular patients each day, Tri said.

Vice Head of NIHBT's Thalassemia Centre, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, said the centre received about 1,700 regular patients, half of whom were under 15 years old.

Phung Thi Le from Vinh Phuc province said that she had to take her 12-year-old son to Hanoi for at least ten days a month for blood transfusion.

"If we miss his blood transfusion, he will get high temperature and start bleeding from the nose and mouth," she said.

In the run-up to Tet, instead of preparing for the biggest holiday of the year, her family was worried about his blood transfusions, she said.

"We hope the hospital had enough blood for patients during Tet," Le said.

"There was a shortage at the hospital last year," she said, adding that her son had to wait three days for a blood transfusion.

Luong Van Dung from Cao Bang province said that his four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with thalassemia last May.

"We are used to taking overnight coach trips as my daughter needs blood transfusions twice a month at the Blood Transfusion Institute," he said.

They were more afraid of blood shortage than any problems like overcrowded coaches, traffic jams or much higher price of goods due to Tet, he said.

Thalassemia is a form of anaemia, a genetic blood disease a child can inherit if one or both parents carry the mutant gene; the risk is higher if both parents have it. The disease is not always symptomatic, but can be identified through testing.

It is caused by variant or missing genes that affect how the body makes haemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. In Vietnam, more than 20,000 patients are diagnosed with thalassemia each year, and more than 5 million people in Vietnam carry the genetic trait for thalassemia.

Health Ministry works to curb contaminated food

The Vietnam Food Administration under the Health Ministry set food poisoning among its priorities to tackle in 2016.

According to head of the department Nguyen Thanh Phong, investment will be channelled to boost the capacity of the human resources and equipment deployed in detecting and addressing contaminated products.

The agency is applying e-governance technology and implementing the ASEAN’s single-window mechanism.

Special inspections on food safety are set to be piloted in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, and awareness-raising campaigns will continue taking place.

In 2015, Vietnam recorded 171 food poisoning cases, affecting nearly 5,000 people and killing 23 people, a slight decrease of 22 cases compared to 2014. The number of cases occurring in households were well controlled, while the figures for factory and school canteens have followed a downward trend.

A total of 42 cities and provinces nationwide have their own food testing labs; laboratories in 15 other localities are under construction.

Innovation programme initiates new action plans in 2016

The Finland–Vietnam Innovation Partnership Programme Phase 2 (IPP2) plans to support start-up ecosystem developers, universities and other educational organisations in Vietnam to improve their innovation and entrepreneurship in 2016.

The information was unveiled at the Final Demo Day in Ho Chi Minh City on January 23 to review the implementation of the IPP2 between 2014 and 2015.

Deputy Minister of Science and Technology Tran Quoc Khanh said Vietnam needs strong businesses that are expected to develop in a healthy and creative environment.

The ministry has worked hard to improve policies in the field while encouraging private firms to set up venture investment funds. This aims to create a favourable financial and legal climate to develop hi-tech nurseries and start-up training, especially for young entrepreneurs, he said.

He said he hopes innovation experts trained under the IPP2 will become crucial factors in Vietnam’s public and private business sectors.

IPP2 is an Official Development Assistance (ODA) programme financed by the Vietnamese and Finnish governments.

The second phase of the programme runs from 2014 to 2018 with the budget of 11 million EUR (11.8 million USD), aiming to strengthen the Vietnamese innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem.

It also looks to promote sustainable economic development by increasing production and export of innovative products and services.

Between 2014 and 2015, the IPP2 provided financial, training, consulting, and connection assistance to realise 22 innovation projects in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, and Thua Thien-Hue.

As of 2015, the projects generated more than 480 jobs for locals and grossed over 430,000 USD in domestic revenue.

The projects also raked in more than 215,000 USD selling products to foreign markets such as the US , Germany and the Republic of Korea .

In 2015, Vietnam jumped 19 places to rank 52nd out of 141 nations in the global innovation index. It also ranked 56th among 140 countries in global competitiveness, up 12 places.-

HCM City prevents major infectious diseases

The southern city of Ho Chi Minh aims to control the number of infectious disease cases while increasing prevention and the capacity to fight disease in 2016.

The information was heard at a conference on preventing and combating infectious diseases in 2015 and implementing plans for 2016. It was organised by the municipal Preventive Health Centre on January 22.

The sector will prevent and limit the number of infectious disease cases, aiming to discover 90 percent of the epidemic outbreaks and treat those with the diseases within 7 days of the case being reported.

In addition, all infectious diseases under group “A” will be handled within 24 hours of receiving information.

Centre Director Nguyen Tri Dung said one way to limit the spread of disease is through effective implementation of epidemic monitoring and epidemic supervision from the community.

He added that in order to improve public awareness in the area, the centre will organise training classes for 90 percent of health centre staff and establish regular epidemic preventive teams across the city.

In 2015 the city recorded 11,749 dengue cases, up 75 percent over 2014. The number of deaths caused by the disease in 2015 was 7, two more than 2014.

Other infectious diseases in the city have seen a downward trend, including influenza, measles, mumps, rubella and varicella.

Government capital helps fishermen in offshore fishing

Government decree 67 on aqua-culture development policies has proved effective. It offers preferential loans to fisherman, helping them build new vessels for offshore fishing.

The decree, which took effect in August 2014, stipulates policies, including preferential credit to support fishermen and ship owners, who wish to build new high-capacity and steel-clad fishing boats, to conduct offshore fishing.  

Bui Duc Thanh, a fisherman of Binh Chanh commune in Quang Ngai province, said that thanks to government loans, he has built a 750-horsepower boat worth US$243,000.

“Any fisherman wants to own a big fishing boat. My family is so happy to build this boat and hopes it will help us improve our living standards,” said Thanh.

Fisherman Duong Van Quang of Vinh Truong ward in Nha Trang City said he has become thrived after buying a new vessel. He has had seven offshore fishing voyages.

Quang said “thanks to the decree, we have bought a big and beautiful boat making our fishing more efficient. We earn up to US$31,500 or even US$45,000 from each voyage. With my current income, I can pay off the loan and possibly build a bigger vessel.”

The program has benefited thirty five ship owners in Quang Ngai, 28 in Khanh Hoa, and 86 in Quang Binh. 35 people in Binh Dinh have signed contracts to build new vessels.

Nguyen Cong Huan, Deputy Director of the Quang Binh Ship Industry Company, said “we’ve issued mechanisms to support fishermen in ship building with high quality and reasonable prices. We’ve tried to hand over the products to fishermen as scheduled.”

According to Pham Truong Tho, Vice Chairman of the Quang Ngai People’s Committee, local authorities and relevant agencies are taught about the decree and will make fishermen be aware of its content. Quang Ngai province is exerting efforts to help fishermen access government capital.

The government has promulgated a number of new regulations to help fishermen upgrade their fishing boats.

“The time to borrow money to build steel-clad boats has increased from 11 to 16 months. We should make full use of existing policies to tap our marine economic potential,” Vu Van Tam, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said.

Danang warns of Australian transnational drug traffickers

Authorities in Danang are calling locals to watch out for a group of drug traffickers from Australia using motorbikes to do their business in Vietnam.

Nguyen Phuc Linh, deputy director of the city’s sports and tourism department, said it has required Danang Motor Club to provide the lists of its members, their profile and their motorbikes’ registration numbers to make sure the foreign criminals have not penetrated it to conduct business in Vietnam, local media reported.

Linh said his department has received tip-offs that a criminal gang from Australia are using motorbikes for transnational crimes, especially drug trafficking.

There are signs that the gang is going to establish a branch in Vietnam.

Married business couple found dead at home in southern Vietnam

A married couple, who owned a coffee processing firm in Vietnam’s Mekong Delta, was found dead at their residence on January 24.

Investigative reports showed that the two victims are Luong Van Dau, 67, and his wife, Vo Thi Nam, 63, who were both the owners of the Huu Khanh coffee processing company, the largest such firm in Cai Lay Town, Tien Giang Province.

The couple were found dead in their bedroom on the second floor of their house, which is also the main office of the firm, by one of their relatives.

Many stabs were discovered on the bodies of the deceased, while some furniture at the scene was altered.

A police source said that cuts were seen on the victims’ necks.

Investigation is still underway.

ADA Fellowship is open: Deadline April 1

On January 21, the ADA International Fellowship program announced at a press conference in Hanoi that it is now accepting applications for 10 awards for the 2016-2017 academic year.

To qualify, Ms Gunay Ziyadova, the officer in charge of the program, said applicants must first be admitted to an accredited ADA University. Only admitted and enrolled students in good academic standing are eligible.

The Fellowship covers only the tuition fee, housing, and books. Recipients are expected to cover all other expenses. The application deadline is 1 April 2016 and they will be awarded to either graduate or undergraduate applicants.

The research areas for undergraduate programs are in public affairs, business and economics, computer science and IT, and for graduate programs they are in MA in International Affairs, Public Policy, MBA, and EMBA.

Undergraduate fellows are for a four-year period and students must obtain a minimum annual GPA level of 2.5 for continuation of the fellowship. Graduate fellows must obtain a minimum semester GPA level of 3.0 for continuation.

Recipients are also expected to actively engage in university extracurricular activities.

For more information, please visit the ADA University website.

Three Vietnamese jailed for trafficking women to China

A court in the southern province of Soc Trang has sentenced three people to between five and seven years in jail for trafficking two women to China in 2014.

Tran Thi Nit, 29, Duong Ca Vay, 33, and Ly Thi Sa Phen, 43 were arrested last year. Police are still hunting for their Chinese accomplice Jiang Zu Huang, local media reported.

According to the indictment, Huang came to Vietnam in 2014 and hired Nit and Vay to work as Chinese and Khmer translators.

He asked the duo to find young women from rural areas to send to China for marriage, promising to pay Nit VND10 million (US$447) and Vay VND5 million.

They found two women, with the help of Phen.

After taking the two women to China, Huang sent them to another man and earned VND220 million.

The women managed to escape and reported to Vietnamese police.

OVs in Thailand celebrate Lunar New Year

The Vietnamese Embassy in Bangkok held a get-together on January 26 to celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year (Tet) which falls on February 8.

More than 500 overseas Vietnamese in Thailand and Thai friends participated in the event.

Participants enjoyed Vietnam’s traditional Tet dishes and an art performance presented by singers from the homeland.

Vietnam Ambassador to Thailand Nguyen Tat Thanh sent Tet wishes to OVs and briefed the participants on the country’s socio-political, economic, diplomatic and cultural situation.

He emphasized that 2016 will mark the 40th anniversary of Vietnam-Thailand diplomatic ties and urged OVs to coordinate with the Embassy in activities to celebrate the important event.

The Ambassador also asked OVs to support Vietnamese guest workers who will work in Thailand after the labour cooperation agreement officially comes into effect.

Nguyen Ngoc Anh, president of the OVs Association in Bangkok, said every year the association holds many activities for OVs to show their love towards the homeland, helping them preserve cultural identities.

The Thailand-Vietnam Business Association in Bangkok made a debut on this occasion. The association consists of more than 60 private businesses owned by OVs in Bangkok and surrounding provinces.

Dong Nai province holds Tet gathering for OV

As many as 200 overseas Vietnamese (OV) and their relatives joined a cozy Tet (Lunar New Year) gathering in the southern province of Dong Nai on January 26.

At the meeting, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee Vo Van Chanh delivered warm greetings to the Vietnamese expats and their families on the occasion of the Tet holiday.

Briefing the OVs about local socio-economic development, Chanh informed them of the province’s preferential policies to attract investment. He said local authorities always create favourable conditions, and provide support and land investment for Vietnamese expats when they return home.

According to the provincial Department of External Relations, Dong Nai has 32,000 overseas people and nearly 18,000 OV relative households.

Some 25,000 OVs return home to visit families and make investments in numerous sectors every year. From 2004 to 2014, overseas people sent home remittances worth US$3.4 million and other valuable assets.

Pollution at power plant persists despite public outcry

A coal power plant in central Vietnam continued to pollute the environment even after it had been fined for violations, officials said.

Government leaders of Binh Thuan Province checked the Vinh Tan 2 thermal power plant on January 25 and found out coal slag from the plant remained a major air pollution problem in the area.

The plant dumped the slag in a 64-hectare landfill but failed to water the area constantly, sending dust into the air.

Officials also found that the company still used uncovered dump trucks to carry coal and slag to the dump site.

A photo taken on January 25, 2016 shows the Vinh Tan 2 thermal power plant in Binh Thuan Province still dumping coal slag into an open landfill. Photo: Que Ha

Nguyen Duc Hoa, vice chairman of the province, said the plant has “failed to take effective measures to reduce pollution.”

Vinh Tan 2 started operation in September 2014 and has discharged around 1,500 metric tons of slag per day.

Residents living near the plant said they suffered from coal dust and emissions from the plant and that their children had pneumonia.

The Vietnam Environment Administration fined the plant around VND1.5 billion (US$69,510) for its environmental violations in December 2014.

But as the problem persisted, thousands of people in the province joined a 30-hour protest in April last year, causing severe traffic congestion extending 20 kilometers on National Highway 1A outside the plant.

Police said there were clashes between people and officers who tried to move them away from the road, and that 17 officers were injured.

A Binh Thuan court sentenced seven locals involved in the protest to six to nine months in jail last December.

VNA/VNS/VOV/SGT/SGGP/TT/TN/Dantri